By GEORGE HENRY
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) -- Ilya Kovalchuk knew his luck had to
change soon.

Kovalchuk scored his NHL-leading 36th goal and the
Atlanta Thrashers beat the Florida Panthers 6-4
Saturday night to snap a seven-game losing streak.

"It was really tough the last half a month," he said.
"I think this game is going to turn other things in a
different way for us."

The Thrashers' skid was their worst since opening the
2002-03 season with nine straight losses.

Peter Bondra had two goals, and Marc Savard a goal and
two assists for Atlanta's first win since Jan. 18 at
Dallas.

With his team coming off a 5-2 loss Friday at Florida
in which he committed a crucial turnover, Savard was
glad nobody panicked when Chris Gratton made it a
two-goal game with 3:51 remaining.

"Late there, it didn't look good," Savard said. "I
think we still can play better, and that's good news
for us."

Gratton, who had three goals in the last two games,
took no pleasure in scoring his 10th of the season.

"It's the same old story," Gratton said. "We weren't
feeding off each other. We battled for two periods and
then let it slip in the third."

Patrik Stefan's ninth goal with 6:53 remaining gave
the Thrashers a 5-3 lead before Bondra made it 6-3 on
the power play.

Kovalchuk was coming off a two-game demotion to the
third line before starting Saturday.

The score was tied at 3 when Kovalchuk, from about
eight feet out, beat Roberto Luongo high on the
goaltender's stick side at the 16:01 mark of the
second.

"Ilya's goal was a big goal as well as an important
goal," Atlanta coach Bob Hartley said. "We need
everyone's contribution. We have a traffic jam in our
conference for the playoffs, and every point will be
important."

Scott Mellanby, who made it 1-1 midway through the
first with his seventh goal, appeared to tip in
Kovalchuk's go-ahead shot, but the Atlanta captain
skated over to the officials' box and apparently told
the crew that his stick never touched the puck.

"They can score goals," Luongo said. "All of theirs
were from four or five feet in front of me."

Bondra's 14th goal, his first since Nov. 26, gave the
Thrashers a 3-2 lead early in the second. He was alone
at the bottom of the slot when Rico Fata skated down
the left side to beat defenseman Lukas Krajicek.
Luongo mistakenly moved out of the crease to allow the
empty-netter.

"We had some breakdowns," Luongo said. "It was a tough
game to be a part of."

Savard set a career high with his 24th goal, which
forced a 2-2 tie late in the first and helped Atlanta
regain some confidence after converting just six of
its previous 65 attempts on the power play.

"They're a team that has excellent skills, and if you
give them the opportunity, they'll bury you," Florida
coach Jacques Martin said. "We gave them too many
freebies. They cashed in."

The Panthers dropped to 6-19-4 on the road after
leading 1-0 on Nathan Horton's goal, his 21st, at the
3:55 mark of the first. Nearly 7 minutes later, Rob
Globke's first career goal put Florida ahead 2-1.

Jon Sim's ninth goal answered Bondra's first score and
tied it at 3 midway through the second. Thrashers
goalie Kari Lehtonen, who finished with 28 saves,
couldn't find the puck after Gratton's slap shot
bounced off his chest pad.

Luongo dropped to 2-6-1 against Atlanta after stopping
21 of 27 shots.

Notes

The Panthers visit Washington and Buffalo before the
break.

Atlanta began the night ranked seventh in the power
play despite going just 1-for-11 on Friday.

Savard had 23 goals for Calgary in 2000-01.

Stefan limped into tunnel and didn't return not long
after he scored.

Boxscore
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore?gid=2006020428

Early flurry too much for Panthers
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/hockey/13795921.htm

Porous defense dooms Panthers
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/panthers/content/sports/epaper/2006/02/05/a5b_panth\
_0206.html

Panthers' progress `erased'
Defensive lapse costs a 2nd win
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/hockey/panthers/sfl-pantspec05feb05,0,4017606\
.story?coll=sfla-sports-panthers

February 4, 2006

SW Florida Panther

RaTs! -- A Florida Panther Fan's Website
http://pantherland.tripod.com/
A member of www.NHLCentral.net

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